To wonder why people don't buy travel insurance?

[EveningHare]

If you can afford a holiday then you should not look at travel insurance as an optional extra

It's vital that you have it, anything could happen and if you don't have lots of money in the bank, how would you pay for it? Go fund me?

I literally can't understand why you'd go abroad with no possibility of getting yourself home again if something goes wrong. Especially when you have children. It should be something you have to prove as part of going through border control. Just think how much the NHS would save per year if tourists visiting the UK had to have health insurance.....!

You don’t need just the insurance, you also need to disclose any medical conditions or consultations in the last year

Not just the last year... my DH had a procedure 9 years ago and we have to declare that every single time we renew because if something happened when we were abroad and it was even remotely connected to his heart, the policy would be invalid.
It's tedious to do but necessary. What really pisses me off is... they treat the time on this the same as if he had it within a year. I think there should be a no claims discount!

Although I hate having to sort this, I wouldn't dream of not doing it.

and how do you get home from, say, a weekender in bournemouth, after you had a car crash (assuming minor, but inpleasant injuries, luggage destroyed, car totalled...)?

squishee we travel to far flung places, my DH had a procedure to do with his heart 9 years ago, we don't pay anywhere near that for a worldwide for a year (excl USA because I won't go there whilst Trump is around). But I do spend a lot of time researching insurance companies and the one we used was recommended on Which?

So your DM shouldnt have to pay that much

Most people in the uk have nonidea about medical costs - the nhs is amazing, but people take free healthcare for granted. in a lot of european countries you either pay first and get reimbursed, or you see the bill at least. makes you very aware of the costs!

It depends on age though too Roussette. It is likely her dm is significantly older than your dh. Insurance is more expensive the older you get

And always, ALWAYS, buy it when you book the holiday. No point buying it the day before you go, that won’t cover the broken leg a week before you’re due to travel.

POssivly witch but my DH is a fair few years older than me and I'm old (have been on MN since dinosaurs roamed the earth!). We are in our sixties

Ah maybe not then Roussette

My 2yr old DS broke his femur whilst we were on holiday. We were due to fly home the next day but ended up stuck abroad for a further week. He was in a private hospital that cost 1000€ a night, plus a few trips to theatre etc. He also had to fly home by air ambulance as he was in a hip spica - I believe the cost of this was in the region of £80k.

We had travel insurance through our bank account and it turned out to be really good insurance. The doctors at the hospital said we could fly home on a normal flight but my son would need 3 seats so could lie down, but our insurance company insisted on the air ambulance. Also got all our extra expenses reimbursed.

Funnily enough i’d checked that dependents and my pregnancy would be covered on this holiday (I was 30 weeks pregnant at the time) the week before we went. I never thought we would need it for the reason we did though. Accidents can happen so easily, my son was just playing in a play area and fell and landed awkwardly.

I have no idea why anyone would travel without insurance- you can buy an annual policy for £30 a year!

Insurance is expensive only until you need it.
Not understanding the limitations of the ehic is a huge problem; the UK has,a very comprehensive health system which us not replicated in the rest of the EU. Through work (school trips) I have had to accompany children to hospital in Austria, germany, France and Spain. On all occasions I have had to produce ehic and a credit card before treatment commenced.
Annual family policy is often better value than single trip.

They don't take the time to work out what travel insurance covers them for, and have no idea how the medical system works in the country they are travelling to. They assume that if they get their stuff stolen or hurt themselves, the local embassy will send in a suited, booted, well spoken Brit to sort it all out

I doubt very much that people who don't think to get travel insurance think things through far enough to come to the conclusion that 'the local embassy' will help them out.

Re: insurance for travelling in the UK, you aren't at risk of expensive medical bills etc, but the main risk would be cancellation if ill/injured etc. I suppose you would have to weigh up whether you could afford to lose the money if you couldn't go.

Some suppliers (eg places like Center Parcs?) would probably sell cancellation insurance, probably at an inflated rate, as part of the booking process, but I would also hope that anyone with an annual policy would be covered for UK travel too, but I need to check as I have an expensive activity holiday in the UK booked for next year that I wouldn't be able to do unless in good health, and we usually have annual cover, but am planning to look at the bank account options when our car breakdown policy is up for renewal later this year and people keep saying that these are often cheaper than buying standalone cover.

Agree with you, OP. If you can afford a holiday then you can afford travel insurance. IMO, it's completely irresponsible to go abroad without it.

If you're only going away once in the year, You cab get cover from £5 (or £10 for a family)... Hardly breaking the bank when you've already forked out for the holiday.

Annual policies win if you jet off at least 2x a year - cover in Europe is around £9 (or £17 for the family), and £19 worldwide (or £37 for family)

Travel insurance doesn't just cover you while you're away, it'll also cover you for cancellation or anything else that might go wrong before you leave. So if you don't have it and you need to cancel, you've no protection. You should be taking out travel insurance at the same time as making your holiday booking.

Like PP have said, You still need insurance even if you have your EHIC card. Travel insurance does MUCH more than cover medical emergencies. You're also covered for theft, lost luggage and repatriation, which an EHIC doesn't do. But having an EHIC means you don't have to pay the excess on your policy if you show your EHIC when getting treatment.

However, Your claim could fail if you haven't declared all medical conditions (for you, your family or a travelling companion) before you travel. No matter how minor you think it is, tell them EVERYTHING. This applies to you, anyone you're travelling with or a family member at home (who you'd fly back for if they got ill).

If you lose your mobile/e-reader/laptop, you're probably not covered. Many travel insurance policies won't automatically include gadget cover. If you need it, select it as an add-on extension to your travel insurance, check your home insurance cover or consider a specialist gadget policy. However, In some cases, even if you've had one drink and you lose something or have an accident, they may say NO if you claim. You need to check the policy.

Also, You're never covered in dangerous destinations. If you visit a country the Foreign Office warns against travel to, you won't be covered for any claims as you're deemed to have ignored Govt advice.

Even for a city break I'd still take it out - my sister slipped on steps in Barcelona going down to the Metro when she was there for two nights and spent her first night in A&E getting her badly sprained ankle x-rayed and bandaged.

I've never taken out travel insurance on a family holiday so far...but that's because we've only holidayed in the UK and we can easily afford to lose the cost. As and when we finally get to go abroad, I would always have travel insurance for those trips (and always have in the past).

We have travel insurance through our bank accounts (two different banks, two different insurance policies). DH's one costs a bit more, he pays some extra on it as he has a (not very serious but existing) medical issue. The policies cover the whole family for trips and holidays abroad (not for everything, but we do not ski, do not do extreme sports so this is not an issue, if we planned to do any of these things we'd get extra cover). My question is: in these circumstances, are our current insurance policies enough?

Witchofzog I’m clearly not one of those people as I’ve never had been to phone a travel insurance Companynto try and claim

I wouldn't go anywhere outside of the UK without travel insurance (or in the UK if it had cost more than I could afford to lose).

A friend of mine fell through a balcony in Thailand, was in a coma for 3 weeks, had a broken back and was in hospital for months. He's in a wheelchair for life now. He was travelling alone and his insurance ensured someone could get to him, be with him and bring him home.

Another friend fell down a few steps in New Zealand and shattered her foot/ankle. She was in hospital for weeks due to having to have reconstruction, metal plates, physio, rehab etc.

In both cases their insurance saved them and their families bills of hundreds of thousands that none of them would have been able to afford.

Especially now I have children I wouldn't dare go without. For our last holiday it cost £18 for the 3 of us for a week. For the peace of mind alone that's worth it.

Brownelephant: car stuff covered by car insurance, (including rescue and onward travel if you have ticked that box), medical treatment: NHS, property: probably house contents insurance. Do you take out travel insurance if you are going to buy a sofa in the sale two towns away? A trip to a stately home in the next county? Or just if it is called a ‘break’ or ‘holiday’ or ‘weekend away ‘?

“Today 08:26 brownelephant

and how do you get home from, say, a weekender in bournemouth, after you had a car crash (assuming minor, but inpleasant injuries, luggage destroyed, car totalled...)?”

I don’t understand this point- what difference does it make whether you’re on holiday or not if you’re in the U.K.? You would claim on your car insurance and use the NHS, exactly as you would if it happened 5 miles from home

It’s a choice. If you can afford to rebut your holiday, or rebuild your house from scratch, replace yours or someone else’s car, or replace your belongings, then no problem. If you’re going to create a GFM and expect the public to pay- then I have issue. The usual ‘reason’ is that people can’t afford it. I’m syprised so many people can afford to replace all their belongings or gone with the monthly saving.

For travel insurance in the UK, the main risk is not being able to go and losing your money, not not being able to get home in the event of an accident.

Like in my example above. If I break my leg the week before I'm booked to do my activity holiday, I won't be able to do the activity, which I've paid hundreds of pounds for. Chances are I can sell my place to someone else, as there's always a waiting list but otherwise, if I couldn't go I would lose all my money.

Or what if you suffer a bereavment the day before you are due to travel for a school holiday break at Center Parcs - insurance would probably cover the cost, otherwise, you've lost thousands.

Ah Insurance, it's like making a bet against yourself and the only way to win is to get horribly injured.

I don't get it for UK trips as it would be unfortunate if something went wrong but there's not that much money involved so it's not worth it.

I would get it if I was going overseas though, because of the risk of being bankrupted by medical bills.

Clairedalune exactly this.So many irish and english parents send their children abroad to work/on holidays for the summer holidays and forget to get them Health insurance.Inevitably some will end up in hospital and I have seen it first hand here working as a nurse in a hospital here in Germany.No money, no health insurance, no language skills, not even sometimes a clue where they are .It's absolutely mind boggling.We at the medical end have to then sort it all out.I have often been asked by my colleagues why so many people from' England' (I'm Irish by the way) are in financial dire straits because so many have no insurance.

My dd going off on holiday alone for the first time thought she didn't have enough money for insurance and was placing too much faith in the EHIC card.

I insisted that she had to get some and she was shocked at how CHEAP it was.